As the summary says, Hannah gets wrapped up in feelings beyond friendship for Noah, her best friend's boyfriend. Now, I've read Emily Giffin novels, including Something Borrowed and Something Blue, so I'm familiar with cheating storylines. The thing I was curious about, though, was how Hannah would come across -- would I be sympathetic about her situation? Or would I side with Ava, her best friend? As it turned out, it was a little of both.

I enjoyed Hannah as a narrator. She's a little dramatic post-breakup with Sebastian, but I found that, and a lot of her internal monologue, amusing. What I liked best about her, though, was that she didn't try to make excuses for herself regarding the situation with Noah. Sure, she is understandably nervous and hesitant to come clean to Ava, but she doesn't place the blame on anyone else. Noah, questionable music taste aside (my eye twitched when I saw Paramore alongside The Beatles and Sting in his early recs to Hannah), was a decent guy. He was sweet and attentive and he did try to do the right thing in his situation with the girls. I liked that he and Hannah became friends first and that Barnholdt didn't overemphasize the cheating stuff.

The back and forth switch between the past and the present really made this a fast paced read. I was eager to see the progression between Noah and Hannah during their summer together, as well as the consequences of their actions in the present. I couldn't say which chapters I preferred because both had me glued to their pages.

This might have been a four star read if not for the ending. It wasn't bad or out of character, but I was left flipping through the last pages going, "Where's the rest?!" I don't know what I was expecting, but I felt that the conclusion was fairly abrupt. That said, Sometimes It Happens was an addictive and fun summer read and a great introduction to Lauren Barnholdt's works. I'm very excited to check out her other novels soon!

Review originally posted at Poetry to Prose.